Air conditioning apparatus



DBG 26 1939- w. H. AUBREY AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed July 2, 1958 www w SAY WW gw@ Poiooiod Doo. 26, 1939 t.

IUNITED STATES PATENT. (3l-'FICE g am coNnmoNrNG mmrus William Henry Aubrey, Waynesboro, Pa., assignor to Frickcompay, Waynesboro. Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania i nooiioouon July z, 193s, sorioi No. 217,252 'i claims.. (ci. liz-izo) 'rms invention relates io oir conditioning ond more particularly to an air conditioning unit v which permits of simple installation and is adapted to condition the air within an enclosure..

Prlorfto the instant invention, vroom 'cooling units have been designed., which, while they function to condition air to a more or less desirable degree are unsatisfactory `for various ditioners of the size comparable to an appreciable heat load lies in their appearance which is un'- -sightly in a modern business oilice for example. Another disadvantage attributed to air conditioners of the type which are designed to rest on the oor of the room to be conditioned and against aV-wall thereof, is the fact .that they occupy a wall area which could be better utilized, from a business .point of view, by the location in their place of ling cabinets and the like. It is an object of my invention to provide an air conditioned unit ofthe package type of relatively simple design which will operate eiciently and eiectively in enclosures having appreciable heat loads therein.

3 5 It is a further object of my invention to pro- 'vide a compact package type of vair conditioningl unit `which permits of installation near the ceiling of the space to be conditioned.- thereby occupying no usable floor space and wall area.

Other. objects andthe nature and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a sectional view taken along a horizuxcliiltal plane I-I of Fig. 3 close to the top oi' the Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is avertical section taken along the line 5o of. Fig. 1; and, f

, f Fig :4 is a'view in perspective illustrating the 4 upitinstalled in a room to be conditioned.

Referring to the drawing, the"unit casing III which is preferably 'of sheet lmetal may be lined with sound deadening material II, whereby the operation ofthe air conditioning unit may take place with the transmission of a minimum of noise tothe enclosure in'which the unit is installed. In order to separate the refrigerant translating equipment from the low side or 5 evaporating unit wherein the air to be conditioned is conducted in heat exchange relation with said evaporating unit, as will later be explained, the partitions I2 are incorporated in the construction of the unit as illustrated and may 10 be lined with heat insulating material I3. Within the machinery compartment I4 may be located an electric motor I5 for operating the compressor IB through the medium o f belt drive I1. Compressed refrigerant will b e passed l5 through the pipe I8 to the condenser I9 which is preferably water cooled. though an air cooled condenser may` be utilized. Here the compressed gaseous refrigerant will be liquefied and fed to the evaporator 20 through the pipe 2I and 20 expansion device 22.` Vaporized refrigerant evolved in the said evaporator will be returned to the compressor 'IB by means of pipe 23l and the cycle repeated. To effectively remove heat from the condenser I3. water conduits 24 and 25 25 may be associated therewith, the conduit 24 being connected to the city water system or other convenient source such as a well or the like and the conduit 2 5 associated with the city sewerA system or other convenient waste water system. Ifdesired. the compressor I6 may likewise be water cooled.

The compartment 26 within which the evaporator 20 is located is formed with openings -21 and 28, one of which may be optionally used as the intake for the airto be conditioned. For a5 example, as illustrated. the openings 28 are closed by the cover plates 23 and the opening 21has positioned therein the filter 30, whereby air will be taken in through the opening 21, filtered and drawn over .the evaporator 20 by the fan 3| driven by a second motor 32 through the medium of the. belt drive 33. When installation conditions are such that an,A air inlet at one of the openings 28 is more convenient than ythe one at 21 and is better for some reason, the cover plate v29-may be associated with the opening 21 and the2 filter 30 associated with one of the openings at 3." o

One of vthe openings 28 are adapted to be associated-bye. duct not shown with the atmos phere whereby fresh air as well as air from the enclosure to be conditioned may be passed through the conditioning unit. Not only may air be drawn through the openu ing 21 into the i'an 3| but, when desired, air may be drawn from the room to be conditioned at a relatively high temperature through one of the openings 35 in the casing I0 within which may also'be positioned a iilter 36 and a damper D, whereby the relative proportions of air taken into the unit can be controlled. This air will be drawn about the lower portion of the casing of the fan 3| and underneath the partition 31 to join the relatively cool air just passed over the evaporator and be sucked through the fan 3| and discharged through the outlet opening 38 of the plenum chamber 39. Optional openings 40 associated with the chamber 39 are covered by the closures 4I, one of which when desired may be associated with the opening 38 and the conditioned air discharged through one of the openings 40.

In order to insure the proper functioning of the elements of the mechanism located within the compartment I4, arrangement has been provided to effect the cooling of the said elements, said arrangement comprising a fan or blower 42 driven by the motor 32 which also drives the main fan or blower 3|. T he fan 42 is arranged to draw in air from the conditioned enclosure or from the atmosphere through the opening 43 or optionally the opening 44 as desired, depending upon which opening the cover plate 45 is associated with. The air is drawn into the chamber 46 by the small fan or blower 42, and discharged through the duct 41 and into the compartment |4 to cool the elements therein. Though either of the cover plates 48 and 49 may be removed from the openings 50`and 5| to permit the discharge of air from the compartment I4 back into the enclosure, it is preferred that the air be discharged through the duct 52 to the atmosphere outside of the conditioned enclosure in order that the heat generated by the mechanism within the machinery compartment be more or less removed.

In order to provide means for reheating the conditioned air, in addition to the arrangement whereby recirculated air entering at may be mixed with cooled air, the heating coils 53 may be located adjacent the evaporator 20 to properly temper the air during its passage through the conditioning unit. Further. in addition to this function for the heating coils 53, they may also serve for heating during the winter season at which time the refrigeration system may or may not be in operation.

With the conditioning unit installed in an enclosure to be conditioned. the operation of the fan or blower 3| will cause air from the enclosure to be conditioned to be taken in through the opening 21 and illter 30 into the chamber 26 through the cooling coils 20, and further through the heating coils 53 which may or may not be in operation to aiect the relative humidity or for other purposes. If further change of relative humidity is desired, a quantity of air may be taken directly to the'fan or blower 3| from the conditioned space through the opening 35 and iilter 36. The air thus taken into the conditioning unit is discharged by the fan or blower 3| into the chamber 39 which is lined with sound absorbing material III and discharged outwardly through the opening 38 back into the enclosure to be conditioned.' To further reduce objection'- able noises the plenum chamber 39 has been arranged to eiectively reduce the velocity of the air through the outlet openings as compared with. the

I i'an discharge velocity, whereby the noise is more lor less effectively eliminated.

When no refrigeration or heating is desired, the fan or blower 3| may be operated, though the coils 20 and 53 have no circulation of cooling and heating medium, respectively, therethrough, and the enclosure may simply be ventilated and the air therein cleaned by passage through the iilters of the unit. In accordance Wlthweather requirements, the refrigeration system may be placed in operation to condition the air with regard to temperature. Similarly, the heating coils may be placed in operation to heat the air of the enclosure to be conditioned at times when the refrigeration system is not in operation. Simple starting and stopping controls, common in the art, may be utilized to effect the operation described, or automatic controls comprising thermostats, pressure-stats, humidostats, and their equivalents may function to serve this purpose automatically.

The small blower 42 operates to properly ventilate the machine compartment |4 by taking air from the enclosure to be conditioned and 'l passing it through the said compartment I4 and out to the atmosphere external of the enclosure to be conditioned, whereby smoke and vitiated air is simultaneously removed from the conditioned enclosure and the low -heat level of such air is utilized to cool mechanism withinthe combefore it is disposed of.

Though the air conditioning unit is preferably y suspended from the ceiling or supported close to the ceiling of the conditioned space above the heads of the occupants, it is conceivable that a conditioningunit in accordance with my invention may be located in other places in a room or enclosure. However, when the unit is suspended from the ceiling, itis significant that no usable oor space or Wall area is wasted and its location in relatively different places directly beneath theceiling will not affect the proper operation of the device for any of the air outlet and air inlet openings may be optionally utilized by the proper placing of the cover plates as described. Further, though the unit may function sans ducts for the air to be conditioned and the conditioned air, versatility is claimed for the device for it air may be effected. This isAespecially'desirable,

for example, in certain situations wherein it is necessary to lead portions of the conditioned air to the space which may be more or less remote to a main enclosure to be conditioned.

While I havedescribed the air conditioning unit as preferably suspended from the ceiling and my invention is directed to providing a unit of such dimensions and of such arrangement as to make this practical, it is obvious that the unit may be placed in any desired location. For example, it may be placed in the basement below the space to be conditioned with ducts Vleading to the conditioned space. In that case it may be desirable to suspend the unit from the basementil ceiling and avoid the use of licor space th said basement. On the other hand, it may be d sirable to place the unit on the floor of the cone-y ditioned-space, arranging the top air outlet con' nection so as to blow the conditioned air toward A that various changes may bemade in-this device without departing from the spirit ofthe invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An air conditioning unit comprising a casing,

said casing including a machinery compartment and a conditioning compartment, both said compartments arranged in substantially the same horizontal plane, said conditioning compartment being substantially L-shaped and comprising an air tempering section and a plenum chamber, said section being located in one leg of said L and said chamber located in the other leg, a refrigerant condensing apparatus in said machinery compartment, an air tempering apparatus in said tempering section of said conditioning cornpartment, means for disposing of heat generated in said machinery compartment, and means for passing air through said conditioning compartment comprising air moving means located at the junction of said tempering section and said plenum chamber, said air moving means arranged to take in air in one direction and discharge air in a direction at an angle to said rst direction.

2. An air conditioning unit comprising a relatively low, relatively long, relatively Wide casing, said casing including a' machinery compartment and a conditioning compartment, means for insulating the two compartments from each other, said compartments being arranged in substantially the same horizontal plane, said conditioning compartment comprising an air tempering section and a plenum chamber, said section and said chamber being angularly disposed, fan means located at the junction oi the section and the chamber, said fan means being constructed to take air in one direction and discharge it at an angle to said direction.

3. An air conditioning unit comprising a relatively low, relatively long, relatively wide casing, said casing including a machinery compart-A ment and a conditioning compartment, means for insulating the two compartments from each other, said compartments being arranged in substantially the same horizontal plane, said conditioning compartment comprising an air tempering section and a plenum chamber, said section and said chamber being angularly disposed, fan means 'located at the junction of the section and the chamber, said fan means being constructed to take in air in one direction and discharge it at an angle .to said direction, refrigerating elements of measurable weight disposed in said machinery compartment and said conditioning compartment in weight transmitting relationship to said'unit, and means for suspending said unit within a room or space to be cooled from a ceiling or top wall thereof with a major plane of the relatively long, relatively wide casing generally parallel to said ceiling or top wall.

4. An air conditioning unit comprising a relatively low, relatively long, relatively wide casing, said casing including a machinery compartment and a conditioning compartment, said machinery compartment being substantially entirely insulated, means for Ventilating said machinery compartment, said compartments being arranged in substantially the same horizontal plane, said `conditioning compartment comprising an air tempering section and a plenum chamber, said n section and said. chamber being angularly disposed, fan means located at the junction of the 'section and the chamber, said fan means being constructed to take in air in one direction and discharge it at an angle to said direction.

5. An air conditioning unit comprising a relatively low, relatively long, relatively wide casing, said casing including a machinery compartment generally rectangular in a horizontal plane and a conditioning compartment generally L-shaped in a horizontal plane, said compartments being arranged in substantially the same horizontal plane, said rectangular machinery compartment and said conditioning compartment being of a size to cooperate with each other and comprise the said conditioning unit whichvis generally rectangular in horizontal section, said conditioning compartment comprising an air tempering section and a plenum chamber, acooling element in said section and a fan associated with said section and said plenum chamber in a manner to suck air over said cooling element and to discharge same into said plenum chamber.

6. The structure recited in claim 5, said machinery compartment being entirely insulated and means for "ventillating said machinery.

'7. An air conditioning unit comprising a relatively low, relatively long, relatively wide casing, said casing including a machinery compartment and a conditioning compartment, said machinery compartment being generally rectangular in horizontal section, said conditioning compartment being generally L-shapedin horizontal sec- Y tion, means for insulating the two compartments from each other, said machinery compartment and said conditioning compartment cooperating -to comprise said air conditioning unit which is -of general `rectangular horizontal section, refrig- A erant translating apparatus in said machinery 

